Animal Planet, Icon Films reel in “Jeremy Wade’s Mighty Rivers”

Having retired his fishing rod for Animal Planet’s River Monsters, Jeremy Wade will mark his return to the Discovery Communications-owned cable net in another series produced by Bristol-based indie Icon ...

Having retired his fishing rod for Animal Planet’s River Monsters, Jeremy Wade will mark his return to the Discovery Communications-owned cable net in another series produced by Bristol-based indie Icon Films.

Jeremy Wade’s Mighty Rivers follows the extreme angler and biologist as he sets out on a globe-trotting journey to examine and explore some of Earth’s largest and most important waterways.

The six-part series, previously announced last April, will follow Wade as he investigates the gravity of each river’s plight in an effort to document the damage. Wade will attempt to understand how exploitation and pollution are contributing to the ruin of rivers that were once the lifeblood of communities by trekking to the Amazon (Brazil), the Ganges (India), the Yangtze (China), the Mississippi (U.S.), the Danube (Central and Eastern Europe), and the Zambezi (across Africa).

Meeting the people who live alongside these rivers, Wade will gather intel about their sustainability in hopes of improving the health of these rivers.

“In just the last few human generations, the huge and outlandish predators that lurk in our rivers have all but disappeared,” said Wade in a statement. “I want to find out why this is happening and what we can do about it — because we depend on water just as much as any fish. So, in these new journeys I’m not just fishing for monsters. I’m fishing for answers.”

“Jeremy’s passion and knowledge make him the perfect guide to take us on this journey exploring some of the world’s largest and most exciting rivers,” added Susanna Dinnage, global president of Animal Planet. “He sets out to answer some of the questions we are all asking about the health and hidden depths of our most important waterways.”

The announcement follows the Spring 2017 series finale of Animal Planet’s wildlife docuseries River Monsters, in which Wade traveled the globe in search of the most fearsome freshwater killers. The series became one of the most-watched and most successful programs in the network’s history.